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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 2023).

The Things They Say!

Hudson Music: Lance's "Bebop Spoken Here" is one of the heaviest and most influential jazz blogs in the UK.

Rupert Burley (Dynamic Agency): "BSH just goes from strength to strength".

'606' Club: "A toast to Lance Liddle of the terrific jazz blog 'Bebop Spoken Here'"

The Strictly Smokin' Big Band included Be Bop Spoken Here (sic) in their 5 Favourite Jazz Blogs.

Ann Braithwaite (Braithwaite & Katz Communications) You’re the BEST!

Holly Cooper, Mouthpiece Music: "Lance writes pull quotes like no one else!"

Postage

15478 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 499 of them this year alone and, so far, 120 this month (May 27).

From This Moment On ...

May 2023

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 31: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 31: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 31: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

June
Thu 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations.
Thu 01: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 01: Jake Leg Jug Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: Joseph Carville Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 02: Claire Martin & Her Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £25.00., £20.00. Feat. Jim Mullen, Alex Garnett & Jeremy Brown.
Fri 02: Guy Davis + Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm. Blues double bill.
Fri 02: Anders Ingram @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Country blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Thursday, May 23, 2019

CD Review: Fred Hersch & The WDR Big Band (Arranged & Conducted by Vince Mendoza) Begin Again

(Review by Dave Brownlow).

Respected piano master and composer Fred Hersch, together with the brilliant WDR Big Band conducted by six-time Grammy winner Vince Mendoza re-visit nine of Fred’s original compositions in an expertly-played showcase for this “team-of-all-the talents” - this “Manchester City” of contemporary jazz.

The Cologne-based WDR Band, universally acknowledged as a remarkable outfit and described by DownBeat as “one of Europe’s finest large jazz ensembles” are packed with brilliantly expressive players several of whom shine here.

Vince Mendoza, a world-renowned composer and arranger in jazz and contemporary music, has, so far in his career, received six Grammy awards and 33 nominations! His warm colourful scores contain many ‘devices and techniques’ first pioneered by The Maestro Gil Evans in the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s which enhance and develop Fred Hersch’s themes and attractive playing judiciously and appropriately.

Begin Again, previously unrecorded, a flowing theme cleverly conceived to incorporate numerous ‘time changes’ has piano and orchestra alternately leading towards a forthright alto solo from Johan Horlen, an imaginative contribution from Hersch and a call-and-response segment before the final theme statement.

Song Without Words #2: Ballad from a 2001 project has a tender melody backed by tightly Harmon-muted trumpets and an emotional alto solo, again from Horlen. The background figures are a delight in themselves and Mendoza illustrates the arranger’s craft at its highest level.

Havana, from 2012, is a spritely romp through familiar-sounding chord changes; a confident contemporary-style tenor solo from Paul Heller is a feature here before the band takes it out in an exuberant coda. Out Someplace (Blues For Matthew Shepard) comes from 1999 – originally a dance score to illustrate the brutal murder of Shepard and how he must have felt in the lead-up to his lonely death. Eerie avante-garde sounds attempt to convey the sadness and pain of this complex scenario…Mendoza here uses his imagination to utilise the vast aural resources of the WDR ensemble.

Pastorale first appeared in 2011 as a homage to Schumann and the “Scenes From Childhood” pieces which Fred learned as a young musician. This song has one of those chord sequences that ‘everyone seems to know’ in a warm, fluid composition with flutes, clarinets and muted trumpets providing supple background figures as Fred solos.

Rain Waltz (early 1980s) is a ‘classy’ feature for a “Milesean” Ruud Breuls, his warm breathy tone contrasting with the bitter-sweet alto of Karolina Strassmeyer, her only feature. The ensemble takes us out with harmonies reminiscent of “The Birth of the Cool”

The Big Easy (2018) with a nod to New Orleans, is a relaxed swinger, having appropriate solos from Fred, trombonist Ludwig Nuss and trumpeter Andy Haderer to sustain the bluesy groove. Forward Motion from 1991 is a lively, swinging, challenging piece featuring drummer Hans Dekker, tenorist Heller, Ruud Breuls on trumpet and trombonist Andy Hunter. Hersch’s optimistic character shines forth in this music with its driving exuberance.

The final song is a rendition of The Orb from “My Coma Dreams”  as rich, Jarrett-like chords flow reflectively from the piano where Fred’s lovely touch at the keyboard really makes the music ‘sing,’ the ensemble leaving us with a heart-rending chorale – Mendoza’s last, intense contribution.

Wonderful playing throughout, together with imaginative contributions from a ‘stellar combination of musicians’ makes this an “unmissable” album truly worth 5 stars!
Due out on June 7 and available from palmetto-records.com
Dave B.

Johan Horlen, Karolina Strassmayer, Olivier Peters, Paul Heller, Jens Neufang (reeds); Ludwig Nuss, Andrea Andrioli, Andy Hunter, (trombones); Mattis Cederberg (bass trombone & tuba); Wim Both , Rob Bruynen, Andy Haderer, Ruud Breuls (trumpets); Fred Hersch (piano); Paul Shigihara (guitar); Paul Goldsby (bass); Hans Dekker (drums). 

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